On Success

[citygriz]

Some interesting points. Good topic. The only thing I have to add is, for me, football is always the main source of pride/disappointment/discussion. Not just at UM, but in general. Around any office, you have alums from different schools talking about how one another's football teams are doing that season. Not so much during CBB season. I'm not sure, but I think it's due to the fact that it coincides with the start of the school year and attending games was our "intro" to college life, school pride, etc. It's just something about the fall air, the start of a new school year, and the feeling that anything can happen. Many of us never really grow out of that particular aspect of that time in our lives; and that's a good thing.

Conversely, while I honestly love basketball and like to think I know much more about it than FB, I think it suffers from timing. Overlapping slightly with FB, getting into the swing of things when it's dark and cold by 4:30 p.m., finals, and winter break, all hurt the atmosphere; even for alums for some reason. It's absolutely awesome to see the recent rise of UM hoops, and I believe the sky is the limit. I'm just trying to say I hope UM sports never become like Kansas or some of the Northeast basketball schools where FB is such an afterthought. One great thing about CBB is that it's easy to watch for those of us who work or have other obligations. Two hours and done. FB is more of a production, even when I watch on TV.

EDIT: Could not have chosen more unfortunate wording if I tried in the bold. Not the conference . . .

Hey, that was a great post, and this is a good discussion.

As you say, timing is everything. College football arrives right at the end of the summer doldrums, when the baseball season has been going on for five months, and you're eager for a new sports fix. Not to mention the pageantry of college football, the roar of the huge crowds, the evocative nostalgic feelings toward your alma mater, and the (usually) friendly, good-natured rivalries with your sports buddies. I not only get it, I feel it.

My love of basketball goes back to when I was a kid, and played on our church-league basketball team. I can still smell those old ratty church gyms, and remember the proud glances from my father if I scored a basket--few and far between! And of course, I lived through the heyday of Montana basketball, starting with the Jud Heathcote era.

Today, two of my best buddies and life-long friends are basketball buffs. One is a true-blue Carolina buff, often insufferably so.The other is 6'11", played at Drake and then professionally for a team in Paris, where he met the love of his life and settled down. In fact, we just met two months ago at Cafe Deux Magots, where he looked like the Eiffel Tower walking in. The place was jammed elbow to elbow, table to table when we sat down, but after an hour of talking basketball, loudly and excitedly I might add, I couldn't help noticing empty tables all around us. Both these friends know basketball, follow it avidly, and are well aware of how well Montana is doing.

But back to the Griz, to football. Yes, I'm glad the merchants in Missoula benefit from Montana's football team, but that's hardly a rallying cry for a Griz alum living a thousand miles away. The reason we can't draw better teams is that we don't play in a better conference: Water seeks its own level. And so that's probably what this all comes down to, more bitching about the Big Sky conference. Anyway, the conversation in the middle was most enjoyable.

Citay did you ever play pick up ball at the old mens gym ? (back when)

Oh, yeah! Well, I guess that's the end of that conversation.

 

[Zirg]

I came across a quote today that really resonated with me, both in my business and in my personal life:

“The first step toward success is taken when you refuse to be a captive of the environment in which you first find yourself.”

Which led me to thoughts about both our football and basketball programs.

Football: Stuck in a mediocre conference, the highest goal to play for a second-rate national championship. One glimmer of hope: "Scheduling up" and hoping for an Appalachian State-esque victory over a Michigan, but even that glimmer has faded with the announcement of four future games with-- Dixie State??!! The old "Cadillac" has become a Toyota, former foes whizzing past us on a freeway to Frisco Nowhere Texas.

Basketball: Same conference, yes, but higher aspirations. Rising coaching star scheduling UCLA, Arizona, Pittsburgh and Creighton, the while recruiting terrific young talent, reaching the Big Dance twice and setting the goal of a Sweet 16 appearance among the best collegiate programs the country has to offer.

I'm as much a football fan as the next guy on this board. I'll sit and watch college football games by the hour in which I have no rooting interest. And I used to be as passionate about our football program as I am now about our basketball team, posting regularly on the football board.

But Dixie State? Butler? Monmouth? Frisco, Texas?

Frankly, my dears, I don't give a damn.

"setting a goal of a Sweet 16 appearance"? huh? Who said that? That's a personal delusion of your own doing.

Frisco, TX doesn't excite me either much but I went to both Chattanooga and Huntington,WV multiple times and they are both s***-holes and App State is still playing East Tennessee, Georgia Southern, Charlotte (who I have never heard of), Texas State,Louisiana and ULM (no idea who that is)and has only one home game after October. They might cash a couple bigger checks than UM, but they are complete nobodies in 1-A. Is that what you really want? To be irrelevant in football, but able to send our softball,golf and soccer teams on more road trips?

 

[Spanky2]

A team with the likes of Monmouth, Central Washington, Butler, Northern Colorado, Southern Utah, Dixie State on their schedule seems irrelevant to me.

 

[grizindabox]

A team with the likes of Monmouth, Central Washington, Butler, Northern Colorado, Southern Utah, Dixie State on their schedule seems irrelevant to me.

So what you are saying is that FCS football is irrelevant.

 

[griznative24]

A team with the likes of Monmouth, Central Washington, Butler, Northern Colorado, Southern Utah, Dixie State on their schedule seems irrelevant to me.

So what you are saying is that FCS football is irrelevant.

Ding ding ding!

 

[tourist]

Frisco, TX doesn't excite me either much but I went to both Chattanooga and Huntington,WV multiple times and they are both s***-holes and App State is still playing East Tennessee, Georgia Southern, Charlotte (who I have never heard of), Texas State,Louisiana and ULM (no idea who that is)and has only one home game after October. They might cash a couple bigger checks than UM, but they are complete nobodies in 1-A. Is that what you really want? To be irrelevant in football, but able to send our softball,golf and soccer teams on more road trips?

I had to look up App St., out of respect which they earned in FCS. As I remembered, Jerry Moore was their last FCS coach. He refused to be part of a move to FBS, so the AD said bye-bye. Last year they went 11-2, got their ass handed to them at Penn State, but no surprise there. The other loss was @ Georgia Southern. No squeeker wins or losses. Last four seasons in some, as we say, Toilet Bowl games. 2018 New Orleans Bowl, 2017 Dollar General Bowl, 2015 and 2016 Camellia Bowl, won them all. The Sun Belt is the worst conference in 1-A, but they have made efforts to improve, by getting rid of Idaho and NMSU. Of course, BSC gets saddled with Idaho. Whoopie Ki-Yay! What has or is the Big Sky doing to improve the conference? Phffffft! The BSC, for now, is the best fit for UM, sadly.

 

[citygriz]

"setting a goal of a Sweet 16 appearance"? huh? Who said that? That's a personal delusion of your own doing.

Uh, I dunno about that. In 2006, we got a 12th seed, beat Nevada, and came with one half against Boston College of making it to the Sweet 16. Would have except that one of their guards, a terrible shooter overall, suddenly got white hot from three, while our kids clanked three's the second half like they were the Houston Rockets.

And while that was a while ago, it was five years more recent than our last football championship, so I ask you, given the recent success of our basketball program and the fall of our football program, which is really more feasible?

 

[tourist]

Zirg, the "delusion" was mine, I was thinking out loud. Allow me to explain.
Citay is probably the most knowledgeable poster on this board. I read his post about the recruits coming into the Griz. WOW! Look at the potential. TDC just completed his fifth year and second consecutive trip to the Dance. That would be enough for most coaches, and has been for past Griz coaches. But he decides to sign up for a three year extension. Why? For all the money he'll make in Missoula? :lol: No. Quality of life and family considerations? Maybe. Or, did he want to do what no other Griz coach has done before, win more than one game at the Dance.
That made sense, and look at the players coming up. He would have to win in the Round of 32, which would put him in the Sweet Sixteen. Breathing rarified air at that point, with the Big Boys. There are only four games between a great season and immortality. Each team can only put five players on the floor. Each player puts his uniform shorts on one leg at a time. Any team can get hot, 'white hot.' Little Gonzaga has shown everyone the way. Maybe TDC was paying attention. :twocents:

 

[Spanky2]

Zirg, the "delusion" was mine, I was thinking out loud. Allow me to explain.
Citay is probably the most knowledgeable poster on this board. I read his post about the recruits coming into the Griz. WOW! Look at the potential. TDC just completed his fifth year and second consecutive trip to the Dance. That would be enough for most coaches, and has been for past Griz coaches. But he decides to sign up for a three year extension. Why? For all the money he'll make in Missoula? :lol: No. Quality of life and family considerations? Maybe. Or, did he want to do what no other Griz coach has done before, win more than one game at the Dance.
That made sense, and look at the players coming up. He would have to win in the Round of 32, which would put him in the Sweet Sixteen. Breathing rarified air at that point, with the Big Boys. There are only four games between a great season and immortality. Each team can only put five players on the floor. Each player puts his uniform shorts on one leg at a time. Any team can get hot, 'white hot.' Little Gonzaga has shown everyone the way. Maybe TDC was paying attention. :twocents:

Good post